Clear

We are officially clear and well until Monday!  Her counts are up, she's feeling well, eating a lot and looking good.  No more at-home shots for a few weeks!  It's a short break; she will be admitted to begin the next cycle of chemo on Monday.

Now that we have survived one whole cycle, I feel much more confident about what we are doing.  She is enrolled in a research study that dictates the course of treatment; however, our doctors will change the plan if they feel she would be better off with a different medication or treatment.  Each cycle is about one month long; we repeat the current cycle three more times.  That is followed by two months of a different regimen, followed by a third course that is another few months.  We are in the most intense segment now, called induction.  This involves IV chemo, hospitalization and frequent (twice a week) blood work to track her progress.  Basically, it looks like this:

• Induction (4 cycles of 4 weeks = 16 weeks)
• Week 1 - Methotrexate (in-patient)
• Week 2 - Cyclophosphamide, Cisplatin, Vincristine (in-patient)
• Week 3 - Vincristine (out-patient)
• Week 4 -Clear
• Consolidation (2 cycles of 4 weeks = 8 weeks)
• Cyclophosphamide,  Etoposide, Carboplatin,
• Maintenance (6 cycles of 4 weeks = 24 weeks)
• Oral Cyclophosphamide, Topotecan, Erlotinib

That's 48 weeks.  We're technically only in Week 4, since her RSV and shunt surgery caused so many delays this round.  If there were no more delays (which there likely will be - babies are not robots and we have to allow for illness and other delays), that takes us through December of 2011.  It is daunting to think about, but also reassuring that there is an end out there...way out there.